X4 vs X4D

[BAZOOKAJOE]

I'm torn on which one i should get.  What are your thoughts and why?

[GAMBLER]

I would go with X4 as long as you can see your riggers on your fish finder.  I upgraded my head unit last fall and sat on the decision for a while. 

[BAZOOKAJOE]

I usually can't.  I think my ducer needs to be pulled up a tad.

[Capt Vince Pierleoni]

Bazooka, it could be your transducer frequency as to your seeing the cannon balls. If you have other surface temp units, entertain the X-4D. If not, then go with the X-4 as the surface temp info is critical.

[jekyll]

Fish finders tell you how far the ball is from the transducer, not the surface. 100 feet of cable is still 100 feet away from the transducer at any normal trolling speed, however; blowback varies with speed. I have an X4 and the depth sensor is pretty much dead-on. I banged bottom with mine in 90 FOW on the FF and the probe said 90 feet. The cable said 116 feet. 

[GAMBLER]

Fish finders tell you how far the ball is from the transducer, not the surface. 100 feet of cable is still 100 feet away from the transducer at any normal trolling speed, however; blowback varies with speed. I have an X4 and the depth sensor is pretty much dead-on. I banged bottom with mine in 90 FOW on the FF and the probe said 90 feet. The cable said 116 feet. 

I don't really care about the exact depth.  I put the balls above the fish and use my electronics to fine tune my spread.  If the X4D says the rigger is at 90' and the rigger shows below the fish, what good is it doing me? 

[Rich D]

I don't really care about the exact depth.  I put the balls above the fish and use my electronics to fine tune my spread.  If the X4D says the rigger is at 90' and the rigger shows below the fish, what good is it doing me? 

 Depending on where the fish are in the cone of your ducer depends where it will show on your FF. Your rigger may be on the outside of your cone, showing deeper than they actuallly are, and the fish maybe closer to center of cone, showing actual depth, or vice versa. I have the 4d, and it is almost spot on with showing depth. Every piece of equipt we have is just another tool, which we have to decipher on how use to put it to use in our arsenal. You just need to decide  which info you want more. Since I do not use surface speed, instead use GPS speed, it was a no brainer, and yes the extra $$ is worth it. JMHO  Good Luck with your decision..

 

Capt. Rich

[jekyll]

I don't really care about the exact depth.  I put the balls above the fish and use my electronics to fine tune my spread.  If the X4D says the rigger is at 90' and the rigger shows below the fish, what good is it doing me? 

 

Well, if the FF marks fish at 90 feet, put your probe down till the depth sensor says 85 and you will be just above them. At this point, your cable and FF may be showing 100 feet due to blowback. The point I made is that the X4D depth sensor is pretty accurate (at least mine is). If it says 90 feet down and the fish are marking at 90 feet down, I know the ball is at the same depth as the fish and I can adjust from there.

 

If you put your cable out so the counter and FF are showing the ball at 85 feet, your ball may only be 70 feet down. The ball lifts with blowback but the FF will still show it at the 85 feet you put out because it is showing the hypotenuse distance to the ball, not the vertical leg of the triangle (depth).

 

Speed changes really show the ball depth on the sensor rising and settling however; the FF shows the balls staying the same depth. My FF will show my balls moving under the bottom when deep and close over a soft bottom. 

 

I run 15 lb torpedoes and I can put out 115 of cable and not hit bottom in 100 FOW at 2.4. It is a good indication of ball lift with blowback.

[John E Powell]

Hmm. Some of you are not taking into account that X4 depth is an absolute but fish marks on a fish finder are variable. If you mark fish at 80 feet, depending on the cone angle of your transducer, the fish can be considerably shallower. Unless the fish is 3-dimensionally speaking directly under your transducer, you'll be setting your baits well under the fish if you match X4 depth to fish finder displayed depth. If you're going to fish the marks instead of temperature, you need to set your lines above the marks. That's what's nice about cable blowback. If your just seeing your balls on the screen, then they are at the edge of your cone angle already so rigger cable readings will more correctly place your baits to the actual depth of the fish or just above them. Given fish will rise significantly in the water column absolute X4 depth seems even less important.

[John E Powell]

Unless, of course, you're bottom fishing or working lines around structure, then X4 depth would seem like valuable info. More info is only better if you interpret it within the correct context.

[BAZOOKAJOE]

Thanks for all the replies/opinions!  I went with X4D...my FF is a DSI model and doesn't mark my DR weights often enough.  I fished this morning and played with the settings on both 455/800 frequencies.  Sometimes it will for a short time.  I believe the cone is too narrow.  Thus, the D part will be useful.  BTW~Northwoods wholesale outlet is $100 cheaper than all the other places on the internet.  You have to call to get a price.  I paid $649.  An absolute steal!  They quoted me $529 on the X4.